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Tag: fake items

In order to fight fake products and stop the illegal use of its Intellectual Property (IP), Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. Joined hands with the Economic Offence Wing of Mumbai Police to conduct raids on businesses dealing counterfeit products of its brand Peppa Pig. A big number of counterfeit products were seized during the raids.

Anil Lale, General counsel, Viacom18 said that the Govt. of Indian has seriously taken up the issue of piracy and illegitimate use of IP over the past few years. We are proud to work with public agencies like the Department of Industrial Policy& Promotion, Maharashtra Cyber Crime Cell and Mumbai Police’s EOW in the fight against counterfeiting.

He also said that it is important to admit that the sale and purchase of fake products are serious offences as piracy and diminishes the brand’s royalty. As rightful IP rights owners, we feel it is our duty to the customers that they may not receive fake products.

Tim Pfeiffer, SVP Business Affairs, Family & Brands, Entertainment One said that eOne believes in taking vibrant brands from screens to stores and it is very encouraging to see our international partners and authorities undertake efforts that ensure only real products reach our young audience. Counterfeit merchandise is not only against the licensor’s interest but also has a colossal impact on the safety and health of the user due to the absence of quality standards.”

The Economic Offenses Wing has been fighting against counterfeit products. In the last few years, they have been able to dismantle businesses which deal in the trade of counterfeit products.

According to a report by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and EU’s (European Union’s) Intellectual Property Office states that the footwear industry is the most affected by the problem of counterfeiting. Some of the famous brands affected by counterfeiting or duplication are Nike. Adidas, Sketchers, Reebok, Asics, etc.

Fake footwear represented around 22% of the overall share of counterfeited and pirated goods seized in the year 2016.

Nowadays consumers have become highly brand conscious, but everyone cannot afford a costly branded product. In order to satiate their need for buying luxury goods at low prices, people have shifted their focus towards fake goods. Selling and buying of fake items are illegal as they violate the intellectual property rights of the brands.

With the growth of e-commerce, it has become quite challenging to stop the sale of counterfeits. This is because a consumer cannot differentiate between a genuine and an original product by just seeing an image online.

According to a report, the global footwear market was valued at approximately USD 246.07 billion in 2017 and is expected to generate revenue of around USD 320.44 billion by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of around 4.5% between 2017 and 2023.

Fake footwear may fulfil your urge for branded goods, but they easily wear out or may cause injury or accidents many times. Counterfeit footwear leads to loss of profits, drop down in the reputations of the brands and also leads to massive unemployment.

Duplicate footwear can be curbed with the help of effective regulatory measures, the use of anti-duplication technologies and most importantly by generating awareness among the consumers and retailers regarding the drawbacks of fake footwear items. Some of the anti-counterfeiting measures are holograms, security labels, QR codes, holographic films, and other flexible packaging products.

To get the best anti-duplication solution call us on +91-7857857000 or mail us at connect@holostik.com.

The number of counterfeit items has dropped down after Khaleej Times took a joint initiative against the presence of counterfeit goods at different locations like a raid on Karama shops.

Abdul, 40 who owns a shop for ladies’ bags and purses in Karama said that that he has faced a setback in his business. Earlier when he had opened the shop, he used to make Dh2,000 but now he makes only Dh100. Sometimes he is not able to sell a single item.

This is the third time he had opened a shop in Karama. Five years ago, the authorities had fined him Dh50,000 during a crackdown against fake products.

“After paying that hefty fine with great difficulty, I closed down my shop and went back to India for a few years.”

He further said that after paying the big fine he closed down his shop and went back to India. On the rising issue of fakes, he says, “Many years ago people used to display fake items at the counter but now they are hidden underground or inside secret basements. Many tourists still come to buy fake products they do not mind buying a copy.

Ahmad Almheiri, senior manager of the business protection department at the DED, said: “If they are selling in a secret apartment, it means they know that the DED is always in the market and that it’s hard to sell counterfeits in Dubai.”

One of the biggest reasons behind the US-China trade war is due to China’s involvement in the practice of unfair trading practices and IP theft to make counterfeit and cheap goods. The biggest hints of counterfeit items are that their prices are too good to be true. The total value of counterfeit items had a value of $1.2 billion.

The enforcement of IP laws is done by US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homeland Security’s investigations branch is involved in bringing down the financial and welfare risks caused due to imports of such illicit products. Let’s have a look at the product seizures that violated US trademarks and copyrights across the world.

China: 48%

Hong Kong: 39%

Turkey: 2%

Canada: 2%

Taiwan: 2%

All others: 8%

Positive move

In the 1980s, China became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization and began to strengthen its intellectual property framework and enact related laws. China stated in recent trade talks that its intellectual property royalties paid to the U.S. surged from $3.46 billion in 2011 to $7.2 billion in 2018.

What’s getting counterfeited?

The seizures of ripped-off intellectual property in the U.S. is only a fraction of all that is sold worldwide. The total seizures of counterfeit goods in the fiscal year 2017, with a retail value of $1.2 billion, down from the fiscal year 2016 seizures that totalled $1.38 billion.

International Patents

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, the U.S. and China file the most international patents under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

The US President Donald Trump recently signed a memorandum on combatting the trafficking of counterfeit and pirated goods which will stop the sales of fake goods, especially on e-commerce platforms. In a statement applauding the work of US government, FICCI said that the Department of Homeland Security along with the Commerce Department, the federal agencies will create a report to curb fake goods in American marketplace within 201 days.

The report will determine the data, factors, market incentives and distortions which lead third-parties to involve in the trafficking of fake and pirated goods.

According to a study released by OECD, the business of fake and pirated products represents 3.3% of the global trade. The study also explains that the share of counterfeits has grown significantly posing a risk to the global economy. FICCI has been addressing the menace of illicit trade with regards to duplication, smuggling and piracy through its initiative CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy).

While speaking on the development Anil Rajput, Chairman FICCI CASCADE said, “This is a proactive step taken by the US President to curb the menace arising out of sale of counterfeits which adversely impacts the legal industry, government revenue and the health and safety of the people. Illicit trade also fuels organized crime. It threatens peace and stability worldwide, and hence all countries across the world must address the matter on war footing.”

FICCI CASCADE works in coordination with government, industry, enforcement agencies, media, legal experts and consumer organizations to develop awareness on counterfeiting and smuggling.

According to the latest report by Anti-counterfeits Agency, three-quarters of Kenyans use duplicate goods. The Kenyan government bureau states that the most copied goods in the market ate mobile phones at 51.8 per cent and alcohol at 30.8 per cent. In the list, DVD items are on the third spot at 26.4 per cent while bottled water comes on fourth with 24 per cent.

Besides these products other commonly duplicated goods are toners, software, accessories and lubricants. The report also revealed that out of the 70 per cent people who use low-grade products, 19 per cent purchase the goods knowingly whereas 49.6 per cent said that they bought the goods as they were cheap.

An additional 17.3 per cent of the consumers were looking for genuine products but couldn’t find them while 18.3 per cent were not aware of the issues.

ACA chairperson Flora Mutahi said that duplication included branding & trademark manipulation, misspelling of names and copying of colouring. She revealed that the Kenyan government has confiscated goods worth Ksh 8.5 billion in the last few months.

She stated the country loses an estimated Ksh200 billion annually due to trade in counterfeit products. “Kenya is indeed ahead of its counterparts in the fight against counterfeits, but manned land borders open the country to illicit trade,” remarked ACA chief executive Elema Halake.

Due to the sale of counterfeit products the Ahmadabad Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has issued a notice to the e-commerce giant Amazon.

A complaint related to fake products was filed by Consumer Education Research Center and its Chief General Manager Pritee Shah.

Shah had bought a pack of two Kajal pencils of a certain brand from an e-commerce portal via online payment of Rs 247. But things turned out to be completely different when she received the product as it had entirely different labelling and manufacturing and it later turned out to be a fake.

However, when Shah asked the e-retailer to notify all the customers about fake products then Amazon replied that they would offer a replacement and did not admit that the product was fake.

CERC said that the e-commerce portal has indulged in illicit trade and thus filed a complaint with the consumer disputes redressal forum. The consumer body has sought the court order which mentioned that e-commerce buyer must recall the fake products and also intimate the buyer.